Mitsri genealogy inscription
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The Mitsri genealogy inscription, known as KAI 78 or CIS I 3778, is a votive stele from Carthage in the Punic language.
Mitsri genealogy inscription | |
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Material | Stone |
Created | 4th century BCE |
Discovered | c. 1924 Tunis, Tunisia |
Language | Punic |
It was excavated between 1922-25 by French archaeologist François Icard (Icard no. C!4392*)[1] and published by Eusèbe Vassel. Francis Kelsey took a squeeze of the stele during his 1925 archaeological mission.[2]
The inscription was originally attached to a statue of Baal-Hammon, and is dated to the fourth century BCE.[3] It is remarkable because it traces back the lineage of a certain Baalay, who put up the statue, for no less than sixteen generations, spanning a period of at least four centuries.
The name of the earliest ancestor, Mitsrî, means "(the) Egyptian". Two of Baalay's forefathers, three and four generations before him, had high functions in Carthage as a General (rab) and a head of state (suffes), respectively.